Men loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr clashed with police near Baghdad on Saturday, one day after hundreds of Sadr's militiamen attacked police stations and battled Iraqi forces in a town further south. The violence in the oil-rich Shi'ite heartland is testing the ability of Iraq's Shi'ite-led government to rein in militias and other armed groups accused of fomenting violence that has pushed Iraq close to civil war.The escalation in Shi'ite infighting threatens to further deteriorate the security situation in Iraq, where Shi'ites and Sunnis are engaged in a vicious sectarian conflict and insurgents are battling both Iraqi government and U.S. troops.It also comes amid a rising U.S. death toll in Iraq and as the United States gears up for mid-term elections in which voter discontent over the White House's handling of the war has emerged as a top issue.... http://news.yahoo.com

A Camp Pendleton Marine will plead guilty next week for his role in the killing of an Iraqi civilian last April, his attorney said Friday.Pfc. John J. Jodka, 20, of Encinitas, would be the first Marine to plead guilty in the case, in which six other Marines and one Navy corpsman were also charged with murder.Jodka will plead guilty to assault and obstruction of justice, his father, John Jodka, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. The elder Jodka said murder, kidnapping and other charges would be dropped in exchange for the plea, but later said it was premature to discuss details of the arrangement. Attorney Joseph Casas, who represents Jodka, said he could not disclose details of the negotiations but said the deal was “in the best interests of my client and the best interests of justice and the best interests of the Marine Corps.”...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15357081/

A 59-year-old German man who has spent the last 34 years in jail has turned down offers to be let out, an official said Saturday. "He rejected an offer to leave in 1992," Thomas Melzer, a spokesman for the Brandenburg state justice ministry, told Bild newspaper. "We can't do anything if someone sentenced to life in prison doesn't want to leave." The man, identified only as Gerold H., was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1972 when the area was part of communist East Germany. ...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15356988/

Georgia's government has reacted with anger to claims by Russian President Vladimir Putin that Georgia is readying for war in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili said Mr Putin was misrepresenting the facts on purpose and that Georgia had no plan to use force in the breakaway regions. Abkhazia and South Ossetia are both seeking independence from Georgia. Russian-Georgian relations worsened last month after Tbilisi detained four Russians whom it said were spies. Following the arrests, Moscow imposed sanctions on Georgia and expelled hundreds of Georgians living in Russia. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6072800.stm

A "polite rebellion" is under way among previously loyal allies of President Bush aimed at persuading him to change course in Iraq and quietly abandon the foreign policy doctrine he had hoped would be the centrepiece of his legacy.Many senior Republicans believe the "Bush Doctrine" has hit a wall in Iraq and lies in ruins. The rebels, including many foreign policy veterans close to the president's father, see it as an obstacle to stabilising Iraq and extricating US forces. But they have decided that earlier, head-on challenges have only deepened the president's resolve, and a less confrontational approach was needed that avoided blame for past mistakes if there was to be any hope of a fundamental rethink."It's a polite rebellion by moderate and military-minded Republicans," said Steven Clemons, a Washington analyst. "Any walk-away from the Bush line is going to be covered with a lot of cosmetics to make it look like it's not really a big change."...http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1928058,00.html

Bush blamed the steep spike in violence in Iraq partly on efforts by insurgents and terrorists to sway the US public three weeks before key legislative elections. Bush said the rise in US casualties in the unpopular war was to be expected because US soldiers were confronting militias behind sectarian violence and terrorists, saying "they're putting up a tough fight." But "another reason why is the terrorists have tried to influence public opinion around the world and right here in the United States," he told senators from his Republican party. "They carry video cameras, film their atrocities, e-mail images and video clips to Middle Eastern cable networks like Al-Jazeera and opinion leaders throughout the West," he said. We use the same media, but with a difference, we have a lot more we use. We spend billions and they spend almost nothing on propaganda, so is Bush admitting they are doing a better job with a lot less? ...http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061020/pl_afp/uspoliticsiraq_061020180452